


Grounded

by tnh1722



Series: The Blessed Lightwood-Bane Family [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Good Aunt Izzy, Good Brother Max, Good Parabatai Jace Wayland, M/M, Parent Alec Lightwood, Parent Magnus Bane, Protective Parents Malec, Sick Alec Lightwood, Winged Alec Lightwood, Winged Rafael Lightwood-Bane, emotional Alec lightwood, mentions of vomit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 02:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15160310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnh1722/pseuds/tnh1722
Summary: Rafael is still learning things about being one of the Blessed. He finds out that he much more connected to his Dad than he originally thought. Also, if anyone doubted that Magnus and Alec were meant for each other, they were severely mistaken.Also, Jace is a great parabatai and a great uncle. And Izzy is a great aunt and sister.(I really need to work on my summary skills.)





	Grounded

**Author's Note:**

> I thought the Winged!Alec would be a one-time thing, but it got amazing feedback and I'm really enjoying the expansion of this story. I'm not sure how far this series will go, but this is definitely not the end of it. Please let me know if you would like this to be continued. Maybe flashbacks to before the kids and maybe continued growth for Alec and Rafael? We will see.

“Rafael, my office, now! Everyone else, back to training!” Alec reprimanded before curtly walking out of the training room. All the young shadowhunters stood in shock since Alec doesn’t raise his voice very often unless it is directed at Jace. They stared at his quick-moving body stomping down the hallway. 

“You heard him, let’s go, focus!” Jace broke the silence causing everyone to start moving again. The blonde shadowhunter crossed the room to snap his nephew out of his stupor. Alec rarely gets angry so people tend to forget how to act when the Head of the Institute starts yelling, even his own son. “Come on, Rafe. He’ll only get even more upset if you make him wait. I’m sure he is already in his office,” Jace instructed while guiding Rafael out of the training area to walk with him down the hall. He was going to try and stay impartial, but he knew his nephew could use some support for what he was about to walk into. 

Jace sat Rafael down in one of the chairs in front of Alec’s desk before taking a step back to sit on the couch at the back of the room. “Brother, try to go easy on him. You remember when you first got your wings and you still use them against me when we spar,” Jace offered. 

“Jace, that’s enough,” Alec huffed out before sitting down in his office chair. He look back at Rafael with a stern look on his face. Alec started back at Rafael, “What the hell were you thinking!? Honestly, tell me, what your plan was because I wasn’t there to see the stupidity for myself!” 

Rafael blinked hard and retracted into the chair as if his dad just shot him with one of his arrows. He can’t remember a time that Alec was ever this mad at him. He knew he made a mistake, but he wasn’t expecting his dad to lash out this much. Clearly, he spent too much time thinking about all that because Alec’s booming voice pulled him back into the moment. 

“Are you going to say anything? I don’t have all day! I have two more meetings and five reports to review and in case you haven’t noticed, I have been home late every day this week if I even made it home. I haven’t talked to Papa in person in three days and haven’t had dinner with you guys in six so if you keep me here late again, so help me Raziel, you’ll be on ichor duty for a month!” Alec was only getting more worked up as time went on and Rafael thought his dad might actually kill him before the day was over. 

“By the angel, it all makes sense now,” Rafael heard from behind him, seeing his Uncle Jace come into view to sit beside him in front of the desk. “No wonder you’ve been blocking me out for the past few days. You always get so stressed and annoyed when you haven’t seen Magnus.”

“Are you done?” Alec pouted at Jace giving his parabatai a death glare like no other. “Why don’t you go check on the trainees so I can talk to my son...now,” Alec finished while motioning for Jace to leave. 

“Good luck, Rafe. He’s extra sassy when he hasn’t seen your Papa,” Jace whispered in his nephew’s ear just loud enough for Alec to hear. 

“Out! Now!” Alec shouted at Jace causing the blonde to laugh on his way out in the hall, shutting the door behind him. Alec taking a few deep breaths trying to calm down. 

“Dad, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it, I know that. Will just wouldn’t stop, he tries everyday to work me up and keeps telling me that I am only here because of you. Usually I can just brush it off like you always say, prove them wrong with by focusing on training and working hard. But something about today, I don’t know...I just reacted today, I was so angry today for some reason,” Rafael admitted, hanging his head waiting for his punishment to come from Alec. 

Rafael was shocked when he felt his dad’s arms reach around him, pulling him up into a hug. He heard a sniffle coming from above which confused him even more. “Dad, are you okay? I’m so sorry, I promise it won’t happen again,” Rafael offered, confused as to why his strong, typically happy and light-hearted father was crying. 

Alec pulled away slightly, pulling his son over to the couch so they could sit together and he could wipe his tears away. “I’m so sorry, Rafe. I completely overreacted and didn’t even realize what was going on until Uncle Jace talked about Papa.” 

“Dad, seriously, you have nothing to apologize for. I was the one who exposed their wings during training just to prove a point. It was out of line and I’m sorry. I promise, I won’t do it again. You have spent so much time helping me control my emotions and I disappointed you. I am so sorry,” Rafael confessed with tears brimming on his eyes as well. He never imagined doing something that would cause his dad to cry. 

“No, Rafe, listen to me. You said you couldn’t help it, that you just reacted. I yelled at you and the trainees and then your Uncle Jace. You are about to cry and I cried. We cannot control our emotions well right now and I know why. I should’ve realized it sooner, but I was so emotional that I wasn’t thinking straight,” Alec paused to take a breath and calm down a little more. Rafael just waited, knowing that his dad wasn’t finished talking. 

“Remember when I said that we carry our emotions differently than most people because of our wings?” Alec asked his son, hoping Rafael would recall his teachings from the past year. 

“Yeah, that is why we have an emotional attachment to our grounder, the person who calms our emotions by an unspoken bond,” Rafael answered proudly, knowing everything Alec taught him verbatim. 

“Exactly. And I explained that Uncle Jace used to be my grounder because we are parabatai, but it became Papa as soon as I fell in love with him,” Alec said, making him smile at the thought of his husband being his soulmate in all ways possible. The shadowhunter then continued, “We talked about how it takes awhile to discover your grounder because you are surrounded by a lot of people and a lot of emotion during the year after transformation. Well, I didn’t want to assume because that would be selfish of me, but I think that I may be your grounder, at least for now.” Alec had a smile on his face, waiting for Rafael’s reaction.

“That makes so much sense. I always feel so calm around you, it’s like this warmth as soon as you walk in the room. Is that what it feels like, with Papa for you?” Rafael asked while taking a hold of his dad’s hand.

“Yep, it just settles over you and makes you feel so comforted, like nothing else matters,” Alec replied with a smile. 

“Wait, if you are my grounder, then why did I do that today? Why couldn’t I control myself? Why don’t I feel like that warm feeling right now? Are you okay, did you get hurt?” Rafael stumbled over his words, trying to look his dad over for signs of injury. 

Alec chuckled slightly, “No, baby, I’m not hurt, but that is where I was getting this whole conversation. I’ve been working so much this week that I haven’t been home for dinner. I haven’t seen Papa in three days and we haven’t even really talked much on the phone. Without my grounder, I’ve been unstable, slowly losing control of my emotions. I’ve had a long time to practice holding in my wings, but I probably would’ve lost that soon too. And with me being unstable, that means you were becoming unstable because even though you were around me at the Institute, neither of us could be grounded. It was just a matter of time before I completely lost it, honestly.” 

“So basically what you are saying is that I need to get you home to see Papa before you beat someone up or knock someone out with your wings?” Rafael joked, hoping to make his dad smile. 

“I’d like to think my words would be a little more eloquent, but essentially, yes, I need to see Papa soon,” Alec responded while laughing. 

“Does Papa know that he is your grounder? Have you explained it to him?” Rafael asked honestly after they both stopped laughing and started packing up to head home. 

“You know that I can’t tell him everything, it’s the rule of the Blessed. But I know that he knows or at least recognizes that my mood changes when I am without him. You know Papa, nothing gets past him,” Alec responded trying to keep the mood light. 

“So if he knows that you need him, why hasn’t he come here? Papa hates when you injured or sick or anything like that so why isn’t he here?” Rafael questioned again, wanting to continue this conversation for as long as he could. His dad doesn’t share anything beyond what he deems necessary when it comes to the Blessed. 

“Well, I usually last longer than three days. I’ve taken week long trips to Idris before for Institute business and had gotten irritable but never out of control like this. I’m guessing that now you need me and feed off my emotions, I have a smaller limit. It seems like I need Papa to recharge me enough to ground you and me, as if he is the source for both of us, but I am a vessel. Does that make sense?” Alec attempted to explain what he was thinking about the whole thing. He hadn’t been without grounding in years so he forgot how fuzzy everything became. 

“Makes a lot of sense, actually. I’m honestly not even surprised that Papa has that much effect on us. I don’t know what we would do without Papa, Blessed or not,” Rafael said honestly, watching as his dad’s movements were getting slower and less graceful than they normally were. “Hey, Dad, why don’t you sit down? I am going to tell Uncle Jace that we need to go home and call Papa to come get us. You don’t look so good.” 

“That sounds like a good idea, Rafe. Could you send Tia Izzy in here so I can let her know what I need done while I am gone? I think I need a day or two off,” Alec said, not fighting his son at all, meaning he wasn’t feeling well at all. 

“Of course, Dad. I’ll be back in a bit,” Rafael answered as he headed off to quickly find his aunt and uncle as he saw Alec rest his head in his arms on his desk. 

\---

“Uncle Jace! Hey, Uncle Jace, come here!” Rafael shouted into the training room. He took a deep breath trying to relax a little bit. He knew that he shouldn’t be so worried, but his emotions were buzzing through him like he had never felt before. 

“Whoa there, calm down, bud. What’s going on? You okay, what happened with your dad?” Jace asked, running his hand up and down his nephew’s arm. “He really needs to see your Papa before he fully freaks out or starts throwing up.”

“I’m fine, well, fine for now. Wait...what do you mean throwing up?” Rafael asks, temporarily distracted from his mission to get his dad home. 

“When your dad gets like this, when he goes without seeing Magnus, his emotions don’t really work or sometimes he actually gets sick, like physically sick. It never happened with me because we were always together, we’re parabatai so legally we can’t be apart even if we wanted to so he was fine back then. It’s only happened a few times, like when he has to go Idris on business. I go with him so his emotions tend to stay in check because I can calm him through our bond, but he would get headaches and then throw up if it got to be too long without your Papa. And you know your dad, he would never tell anyone, but I could feel his pain,” Jace explained to Rafael like it was so simple, like Jace understood everything that Alec had explained earlier. 

“So you know about the whole grounding thing? You knew that you were dad’s grounder and then it changed to Papa?” the young shadowhunter asked in awe of his uncle’s knowing despite his dad saying he never told.

“So that’s what you fancy Blessed call it? Grounder? Interesting. He never said anything and he never told me what it was called, but I could just tell. He would instantly calm down when we were around each other, even when I made him mad. I could tell, through our bond. Then he started dating your Papa and something shifted. We were still parabatai and still had that connection, but I knew there was a change. I started getting that calm feeling whenever Magnus came around or entered the room. I realized that Alec needed him at that point, but he still needed me and you. Me, you, and your Papa are like this weird trifecta that keep your dad on his feet and not his wings. Max too, I can definitely feel a small pull when he sees your brother. And sometimes Izzy. I don’t know, your dad is an emotional guy as much as he doesn’t let on so I guess he needs us as much as we need him,” Jace laid everything out while Rafael stood in awe. He had never heard his Uncle speak so eloquently besides his wedding vows to Aunt Clary. 

“Okay, wow, that was way more than I was expecting from this conversation, honestly. My head is swirling, this must be what you were talking about. The headaches or whatever this is….” Rafael said reaching out to his Uncle to steady himself before continuing, “Okay, focus. Dad is sick because he hasn’t seen Papa in a few days. I am getting sick because we realized that Dad is my grounder. We need Papa to help Dad stabilize his emotions so that he can help me. I need to call Papa so he can come get us and Dad needs to talk to you or Tia Izzy or maybe both...I don’t remember...my brain is getting fuzzy…”

“Alright, bud. Take a breath for me. Here’s my phone, call Magnus. I will go find Iz and then we will go check on your dad, okay?” Jace replied calmly as he helped Rafael sit down on a bench in the now cleared training room. 

“Yeah, okay, I can do that,” Rafael answered as he took so more breaths and dialed Magnus’ number. Jace nodded to him and headed out towards the weapons room to find Izzy.

\---

“I told you he seemed off today! He looked paler than usual this morning and he made a snarky comment to Underhill. He loves Underhill!” Izzy stated as she clicked down the hallway with Jace who had filled her in on the situation. 

“Yeah, I heard about that. I told Underhill not to worry and that Alec was stressed. He seemed okay, but I’ll remind Alec about it once he is in a better state of mind,” Jace replied as they stopped at the training room to check on Rafael. Their nephew had just finished his conversation with Magnus as they heard him say ‘see you soon’ and then hang up the phone. 

Rafael got up and hugged Izzy tight, he had always been really close with his aunt. They loved having conversation in spanish around Uncle Jace because he got so frustrated at not knowing what they were saying. “Tia, I don’t feel good,” Rafael mumbled as he clung to her. 

“Oh, sobrino. I know, let’s go check on your dad. I’m sure your Papa will be here any minute,” Izzy comforted as she directed Rafael down the hall with Jace towards Alec’s office. Seeing how weak Rafael was made her even more worried about the state they would find Alec. 

The three of them walked into Alec’s office to find him throwing up into his trash can behind his desk, his back to the door. They heard his strained voice, “I’m a bit tied up at the moment, please go find Underhill if you have a problem.”

“Oh big brother, why didn’t you say something sooner? You look horrible,” Izzy said as she let Rafael relax in Jace’s arms to walk over to Alec. She started rubbing the dark-haired shadowhunter’s back as he started to throw up again. 

“Thanks, Iz. That makes me feel better,” Alec answered softly before he heaved again. Izzy was a little happy to hear his sassy response meaning he was still well enough to have his humor. Just as Izzy was about to respond again, a golden portal tore open in the office and a determined Magnus walked through with Max following quickly behind him. 

Magnus went over to Rafael who laying on the couch with his head in Jace’s lap. “Hey, sweetheart, how are you feeling?” Magnus asked as he bent down to run his hand through Rafael’s hair. 

“I’m just tired, Papa. Go to Dad, he needs you and then I’ll start feeling better,” Rafael whispered as he was falling asleep from Magnus’ hand in his hair and Jace’s hand rubbing his back, both soothing him. Magnus kissed him on the forehead and then strode over to Alec who was being calmed by Izzy and cared for by Max who had summoned a wet compress to hold on his father’s forehead. 

Magnus moved the trashcan and knelt in front of his husband to hold Alec in his arms. Alec instantly relaxed into the warlock’s touch and sighed in relief as if all his pain had disappeared. “Alexander, why did you let it get this bad? I would have come had I known, you usually make it longer than this. I know it was a rough week, but I didn’t realize it was this bad for you,” Magnus said lovingly as he ran his blue magic through Alec’s body. 

Everyone’s attention was on Jace as he explained what he and Rafael had talked about earlier. Jace knew Magnus would understand the feeling that he was talking about. Magnus just held onto Alec tighter when their connection was being explained to him. It made him smile when Jace said they were soulmates. His focus was brought back when he heard Alec say something.

“What was that, darling? I didn’t hear you,” Magnus asked as he rubbed Alec’s back. 

“Take us home, please,” Alec said a little louder as he was pulling himself up slowly out of his chair. Magnus grabbed his biceps to steady him and Izzy had her hands on Alec’s waist just in case. 

“Of course, love. Max, could you go help Rafael up?” Magnus asked. Max didn’t answer but walked over to his big brother and got him on his feet allowing Rafael to completely rest against him. Both Alec and Rafael looked better just with Magnus being in the room, but they definitely needed more rest. 

“Iz, can you take point? You can run out of my office until I get back,” Alec turned to look at his sister who still wouldn’t take her hands off her brother out of worry. 

“Absolutely, take as long as you need, big brother. Jace and I can handle this place, maybe not as well as you, but I got it under control,” Izzy replied as she hugged Alec and kissed him on the cheek. 

“Alright, let’s get my two angels home,” Magnus declared as he opened another portal, motioning for Max to take Rafael through first and then following with Alec. He mouthed thank you to Jace and Izzy who just smiled back at him.  
\---

“Blueberry, take him to our bedroom. Dad and Rafe need to be together while they rest,” Magnus said as he helped Alec lay down, who pulled himself back up and covered his mouth with his hand. Magnus quickly summoned a bin for Alec to throw up as he rubbed the shadowhunter’s back. 

“Papa, why is Dad so much sicker than Rafe?” Max asked worriedly as he laid Rafael down and pulled the covers over his brother who was already looking healthier. 

“Well, Blue, I would imagine it is because your dad is using all of his energy to make Rafe feel better before he lets himself feel better,” Magnus replied as he wiped the fallen tears from Alec’s face who was still heaving slightly. 

“I just don’t want him to get sick, Mags. I’ll be fine. I already feel warmer with you here,” Alec confessed as he grabbed for Magnus’ hand. Magnus leaned forward and placed a kiss on his husband’s forehead. 

“Dad, I’m fine. I already feel so much better. Please, just relax,” Rafael reached over and placed his hand on his father’s back. Alec relaxed at his touch and started to lay back against the headboard. Magnus snapped away the trash can away and Alec tasted mint knowing that Magnus had brushed his teeth for him. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll rest. As long as all three of you stay here with me, it’ll be easier for me if I know you are all here,” Alec said honestly as reached for Magnus, pulling him in for a kiss. Alec hadn’t felt that warmth in days which he desperately needed and missed. 

“I’ll stay as long as there is no more of that happening,” Max huffed out as he motioned between his fathers with a disgusted look on his face. 

“Agreed,” Rafael said as he threw an arm over his eyes causing his parents to laugh. 

“Fine, you’re lucky that Dad isn’t feeling well because we haven’t seen each other in days. Normally we’d be making out by now,” Magnus joked as he ran his fingers through Alec’s hair. 

“Ugh, Papa, enough! I might throw up now,” Rafael exclaimed as Max made a gagging noise next to him. 

Alec’s hand flew up to his mouth again, looked at Max with pleading eyes, and mumbled “Blue, please don’t make that sound.” Magnus rubbed his back and gave Max an angry glare. 

“Whoops, sorry Dad,” Max replied as he and Rafael shared a small laugh. They all settled back into their spots for the day. The Lightwood-Banes wouldn’t be going anywhere for awhile, at least not until Magnus said so.


End file.
